


Lullabye for Life

by Squashlord



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Archaeology, But mature is there for a reason, M/M, Slow Burn, Sort Of, it will be obvious what this is based on as it goes on, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-04 00:56:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12759828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squashlord/pseuds/Squashlord
Summary: Intrepid adventurer James Tiberius Kirk has made perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in history: an orb that leads to the mythical Pandora's Box. Unfortunately, the orb falls into the hands of a shady organisation, with an evil scientist who deals in killer viruses and hopes to sell the secrets of the box as the ultimate weapon. Recruited by Federation Intelligence to get the orb back, Jim recruits Leonard McCoy, an old doctor turned mercenary (and his former love interest) to help. The two embark on an adventure that spans planets in an attempt to regain the orb...





	1. Birth of a Story

Warm sunlight bathes the southern sea on the planet of Catulla as waves lap lazily at Jim's research boat, a sound that he'd be willing to doze off to any other time. Now though, he's got the biggest discovery the universe has ever seen right at his fingertips, begging to be found. All he needs is to reach it.

"It's definitely down there." Nyota says, lifting her sunglasses as Jim pops his head into the main cabin, and gestures for him to come closer. "The quakes must have dislodged something, because the entrance to the temple is right there on the radar. Nobody will believe this." There's almost reverence in her tone, but that's understandable given how long it's been since they started searching for this ancient place in all seriousness.

"Seems unreal, doesn't it? All that trouble with that backstabbing asshole, and we've found it without him after all. Hey, a couple guys and I are gonna head down on the dive scooters, scope it out. Once it's clear I'll radio you?" Jim shoots a roguish smile, painting a rather silly picture in his diving suit, still damp from his earlier foray into the sea. "I'll have my cam on me recording the whole time. I wouldn't want you miss out on all the treasures. After all, you're the best translator there is."

"First Naralex doesn't record the temple's location. Then it gets wiped from the planet with a volcano. Now even the currents change. I don't know, Jim, maybe it was never meant to be found."

He offers Nyota a fond smile. "Everything lost is meant to be found. Don't worry."

"Just don't get into trouble, alright?"

With a pat on Nyota's shoulder he turns his heel and heads off out the cabin door, giving her a wave behind him. "Aw, Ny, don't suck all the fun outta life!"

\-----

"Looks safe, boss. But it seems pretty spooky. I feel like this whole thing could collapse any minute. "

"Afraid of a few old ghosts? Thought you and your guys gave done this before?" Jim teases a little through the communicators in their diving suits, but he is inclined to agree with the creepiness factor.

"No," the guy scoffs, "But I was spooked out by the crazy looking shark thing on the way here."

He and two of the crew from the boat emerge inside the ruin of a vast alien pantheon, oddly making Jim think of the ancient Greek architecture he studied as a young boy. Maybe he was meant to find this place all long. The thought lingers with him as the trio wander further in with lights clipped to their swimsuits, but his two crew exclaim loudly when they spot a pile of glistening loot, and immediately head over with the promise of riches in their eyes.  
Jim huffs and shakes his head, but he can't blame them when they start packing the things up to take back to the boat later. But he's got bigger ideas, namely the imposing, awe-inspiring goliath of a stone statue sitting on an equally large stone throne. It doesn't take Jim long to hoist himself up on a knee, coming face to face with an odd shaped medallion lodged in the statue's chest.  
"Oh, thank you. Don't mind if I do." he mutters to himself as takes out a knife from the sheathe at his thigh to pry the medallion out if the depression. After examining it briefly he slips it inside the small pack at his hip, and instead lifts his eyes to the source of low orange glow from above. And, oh, that's a pretty sight. A chandelier-like contraption swings a little, high above him and the statue, with a sphere sitting inside the center somehow, about the size of a bowling ball. How can someone like Jim ever hope to resist? He climbs up the statue until he finds a way to pull the contraption closer with a wire, managing to pull apart enough of the aged metal to finally get his hands on the orb.  
Or is it just an orb? Holding it reverently while still perched on the statue, it almost seems like the orange glow has a multitude of tiny stars giving out light from inside its core, warming Jim's hands.

"Can you see this, Ny?" he says in a hushed voice, turning it in his hands for the camera feed. No voice comes up on his radio. With a frown he taps it, but still nothing. "Nyota?"

He's about to alter the channel when there's a sound of multiple motors coming from the same area he and the two crew emerged first. There's barely any time to react before there's the sound of a phaser shot ricocheting off the wall, making the two guys startle and drop their bags in favour of their own weapons and getting behind some kind of cover.  
But it does them no good. Five assailants come up from the water with breathing masks, hurrying into the chamber with precise orders given in a language that's definitely not Federation standard. Fuck. A cartel. It must be.  
Not that Jim has much time to ponder over that when there's another shout and a round of phaser fire that gets startlingly close to Jim's head, causing him to duck to avoid it and overbalance. In a split second decision he manages to jump for the chandelier just as a roar of water makes the entire chamber rumble and shake, the metal hitting Jim's arm and knocking the sphere out of his hands and into a shallow pool below.

"No!" he shouts, swinging away from more shots as best he can until he drops and rolls behind a large gold pot, scrambling away just as one of the intruders gets to the shallow pool to take his prize.  
The rest is a rush, a flash of time once Jim grabs his little phaser and gets off a few shots, only to see his companions fall into the line of fire while taking out a few of the others. Another rumble and there are leaks starting to spring, blocks tumbling and knocking out another intruder.  
The one guy that's left, the one with the orb, makes for the dive scooters without further ado, getting out while he still can. Jim needs to follow - now. He pokes out his head from cover briefly only to hear a phaser shot right by his ear, and a muffled laugh until it's hidden by the motor as it's driven away with as much speed as he can.  
He has to escape! There's another telltale thunderous noise as he scrambles from behind the pot, this time barely missing getting squashed by a falling block of stone by diving into the water for his life. A surge of water pushes him as things truly start to collapse behind him, destroying everything created thousands, if not millions, of years ago. As much as sit hurts it can't be Jim's priority, considering staying alive is pretty important too. But he can't survive for long without some way to get to the surface. He swims as strongly as he can until an idea occurs to him, his lungs starting to burn. Swiftly he takes out his knife and slices into his arm a little, just enough so blood wafts into the water. This has to work. It has to. The burning in Jim chest gets worse as the seconds pass agonisingly slow, and when he thinks it's too late a shadows passes by him, knocking him, but he manages to grab onto a solid fin in the vain hopes it'll lead him to the surface.

The last thing Jim remembers is breaking the surface of the water but being unable to see the boat, unable to find Nyota or anything left on it. Just as his vision starts to darken he swears he could hear the sound of a shuttle somewhere... Somewhere?

 -------

Confusion is the overwhelming sensation Jim feels when he wakes up. Closely followed by a headache the size of Jupiter, but he squints and realises that somehow he's back in his room at Kirk manor.  
Kirk manor.  
Home.  
Fuck, the mission - that glowing orb!

He shakes the thoughts from his head for now and gets up out of bed, tugging on a shirt and trousers when he catches a glimpse out of the window. Aw, shit. He'd recognise that car out the front any day of the week.

  
"We're here for some answers, and we're getting impatient."

"Then perhaps you gentleman would like some tea while you wait?" Asks Jim's closest confidant, friend and butler of sorts, Spock ask two men in black, trying to fend them off in his own polite way as they look rather pointedly at him.

"No, they wouldn't." Jim's voice rings out as he strides with purpose and a scowl directed at the two men. "Tea is for guests. The door is for intruders."

"Intruders? Mister Kirk, we are from the-"

"Federation. Yes, I know. Which is why you're not welcome here."

The agents shift uncomfortably, used to being able to get their own way purely because of their organisation association. Jim's an entirely different kettle of fish, though, and always has been when having to deal with him. "It's a matter of universal safety, and the latest expedition you went on. They're unmistakably linked and we need your knowledge to stop it."

"To stop what, exactly?" Unimpressed, Jim folds his arms and cocks an eyebrow. What's so important that they must enlist someone like him?

"If you'll let us introduce ourselves first. I'm Agent Pike, and this here's my partner Agent Boyce. We aren't here for the hell of it, Kirk. You've heard of a man called Harrison, correct?"

Jim appears puzzled for a moment, "John Harrison? Award winning chemist who now sells bio-weapons to the highest bidder, no matter who?"

"The very same." Pike takes a padd out from his greatcoat to show Jim a recent photo of the man, last taken outside a conference for various contagious diseases. "What we know of his current research also links with what we know of yours and that orb you lost, but what we can't discern is exactly what he's after, or why. He's no tomb raider."

Jim ponders, rubbing his chin as the answer comes to him. "Pandora's Box." A beat passes. The two agents glance at each other doubtfully. "Harrison is going to use the orb to find Pandora's Box."

Oddly enough, that doesn't seem to help make things any clearer to Pike and Boyce, who give Jim a quick shake of the head. "Do you mean the old Earth myth? From Greece? Pandora's Box given by a god, told not to open - she does and unleashes pain into the world?"

"That's the Sunday school version, yes. How do you think life began?" Jim shoots a confident smile now, circling the agents as he talks. "Shooting stars? Primordial ooze? In 2300 BC an Egyptian pharaoh found a place that he names The Cradle of Life where we, life began. And there he found a box, the box which brought life to Earth. The pharaoh opened the box but all that was left inside was the "Ramante" - or anti-life. The plague which came as a companion to life."

Boyce huffs in annoyance. "Companion?"

"Nature's all about balance, right? All of this world, and hundred of others, come in pairs. Yin and Yang, right and wrong, Vulcan and Romulans." A quick smirk at Spock. "And what's pleasure without pain?"

"And what does this plague do?"

"It levelled the pharaoh's army. His son was dispatched to send it to the end of the world, but it's long since left the planet. Two thousand years ago there were whispers about a great Dakarian army in the invasion of Triton Prime that was ravaged by a plague after one of the men found a box amongst the remains."

That's where it was brought, it seems to the agents, who silently confer between them. Jim gives them the time, striding over to grab an apple from a fruit bowl on the bureau. "The Dakarians considered it too powerful to be trusted to anyone, so it was returned to its home. To the real Cradle of Life, not the one named by the pharaoh."

"And so this Cradle of Life is... Where?"

Jim shrugs and takes a bite of his apple. "Nobody knows. It was found using a map that was with the box, a map that he hid from the universe. But the name - and here's the kicker - was "mati". And the literal translation for the word "mati" is "eye"." He grins, pointing to Pike and Boyce as understanding falls upon them. "The orb is the map, hidden in the Lunais temple by the Dakarians, and Harrison will use it to find Pandora's box. And when he does, he will unleash a weapon more powerful that you could ever imagine."

The cold realisation that pours over the agents is a sight, one where they are finally knowing the scope of what's to come. And how much paperwork they'll have to fill out. Maybe tea would be polite to give to them after all, but Jim still wants them out of his house so he can get on with his work.

Spock however, speaks up first, mostly for Jim's sake. "We do know who has the orb. Chekov has been scouring every bit of information he can, and it is clear to us now that it's been taken by the Shai-Ban. An off-world Romulan mining company."

"But that's just a front." Jim follows with a nod of thanks Spock's way. The information is helpful, but dammit. That's an organisation he'd hoped not to deal with again.

"We'll assign you two of our best agents. The Shai-Ban are-"

"I don't want them." Jim interrupts immediately, causing Pike to frown deeply.

"With all due respect, Kirk, expertise in planet archaeology doesn't..."

"I didn't say that I don't need help, but your agents will never get me to the Shai-Ban in time. I need an insider, someone who knows them, their methods, their hideouts." He pauses before sighing, frustrated that he's even going to have to go this route. But it's the best shot he's got.

"I need Leonard McCoy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins! Is Uhura still alive? Can we even trust the Federation? How pissed off is Bones going to be?
> 
> \---
> 
> This started as a joke, in all honesty, but it's starting to grow into something pretty fun, especially when not everything is going to be 1:1 with the source of the inspiration. Second chapter will hopefully be up soon, but I'm balancing this with my work so it's going to be updated as and when I have the time. Even so, I hope you enjoyed this!


	2. A Few Steps Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim meets an old friend.

_I need Leonard McCoy._

The thought ruminates in Jim's mind the whole way to Arrakti Satellite Prison, one of the largest off the grid detention centers the Federation keeps for some of the worst it finds. Murderers, smugglers, and traitors to the Federation are all housed here in harsh conditions until their time is up. If it ever is.

"Welcome to Paradise Island! I'm Karmin Al, and I'll be your tour guide around this zoo. Just follow me. Oh, and don't feed the animals!" Whoops and hollers come from the metal catwalks above, and the cage-like cells are packed with members of all sorts of species from across the galaxies. "Ah, come, come. The one you seek is this way. I had to put him in his own cell when he put down three other inmates."  
Karmin laughs at the unsurprised look on Jim's face, though Jim pulls his old fashioned explorer's jacket tighter around him as they walk through the cold corridors. "If you want, I'll have Yurin go in with you. Can't promise you won't get hurt, but he'll look nice and intimidating."

Jim huffs and shakes his head, fairly confident that things won't go that badly. They've... A history. One that he might have to press to get what he wants from the guy. "That won't be necessary. I just want to talk to him, no need for any guard."

Karmin eyes Jim doubtfully, but they soon round a corner and go down into the depths of the prison, towards the solitary cells. Another corridor, darker than the others, and of course that's where McCoy is.

"Careful in there. He can be a biter."

All that gets Karmin is an amused smile. "Oh, I know that." Jim replies before the bolted metal door swings open with a screech, stepping inside only a little way when it shuts and locks behind him.

\----- 

"To what do I owe this pleasure?"  
The southern drawl is unmistakable, and it sends a chill down Jim's spine. Perhaps it was a bad idea to jump back into the lion's den, but it's been-  
"-Five years, and it's only now you come visit me, Jimmy?"

"Hello, Bones." Jim replies more calmly than he feels, watching as Leonard drops, topless, from the makeshift pull up bar from the low ceiling of his cell. It's almost a relief that he looks barely any different, just more built and with a scruff of beard on his face. He still has a way about him that makes Jim feel suddenly self conscious about his breathing or where his tongue sits in his mouth.

"So, what do you think of my new place? Not quite Kirk manor, I know. But I like to think I've made my own touches." Bones eyes his guest intently before grabbing his tshirt from the bed and wiping his forehead with it, but he does nothing to hide what's on show. If things were any different, Jim might be a little distracted.

But now is not the time. Or so Jim tries to tell himself.

He gives the cell a cursory glance, soon tilting his chin in a defiant motion. Bones can be a charmer when he wants to be and Jim needs to resist. "I've got something for you. Could even call it a gift."

There's an odd expression on Bones' face when Jim pulls out a keyring from inside his jacket. He takes a few steps forward, deliberately getting into Jim's space and backing him up against the steel cell wall, unknowingly causing the guy's pulse to stutter slightly.

"And what's that, darlin'? A key to your heart?" Leonard reaches for the it but it's quickly snatched away, and the cocky smile he had curling his lips twists into annoyance. It's just like Jim to play games.

"It's to an apartment in Zuricha, on Meteri. You can pick another planet, another city. Whatever you want." But it sounds too good to be true, especially coming from someone like James Kirk. Leonard could ask for more than what Jim is willing to give. "Your record will be expunged. Citizenship restored. You were once Doctor McCoy. You could be again."

That's a low blow. But one that makes Leonard's gut twist with a certain yearning for his old life. "And who's this gift from?"

"The Federation."

That makes Bones snort and turn his head away briefly, but how can he keep his eyes away from those baby blues? Jim's always had a way of twisting him around his little goddamn finger. "Why the Feds?" He questioned before letting out a huff. "Does that make me Faust or the Devil?"

Jim tilts his face up as Bones leans closer, placing an arm on the wall above Jim's head. Like this, it's almost difficult to remember why he's locked up somewhere like this in the first place. Like this, Jim thinks back to a different time between them.  
But he has to break away, slipping out from under Leonard's watchful eye to step closer to the door. "Well, you can choose. They'll be giving you a new identity as well. So when do you want to leave?"

"That depends on what you want me for. Other than my looks."

A pause and a tinkle of metal as the key slips inside Jim's jacket again. "I need you to take me to the Shai-Ban."

"The who?"

"Don't play dumb, Bones. It's never suited you. They have a man named Nero, who took something from me. And I want it back."

Letting out a sigh, Leonard leans his back against the wall and folds his arms, wondering what fresh kind of hell Jim's trying to pull on him now. Their last foray into the field went about as badly as it could have, resulting in these cosy quarters right here.  
"The Shai-Ban are like ghosts, Jim. They move constantly, but their home's on the most remote planetoid in Nova quadrant."

"Nova quadrant? You can do better than that." Jim's got resources, but even he is limited. And Bones has a way better nose for shady groups than he lets on.

"Just... Get me to Nova. I can find them from there for you."

"Even when you'll be allowed no money, no phaser, no weapons of any kind?"

Hm, a hard bargain, but anything is better than being stuck here for another god knows how many years. If they'd even let him out at all after what he did. Leonard meets Jim's eyes and rubs a hand over his rough beard, thinking. He could easily get killed if they do find what they're looking for. But either that or rot.  
Soon a crooked smile tugs at his lips, one that speaks volumes of trouble. "You just want to take the fun out of everything, don't you darlin'?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we start getting into the juicy parts, aha!  
> This is rated mature so there will no doubt be some lewd things like handholding later on, for sure.
> 
> Until next time, folks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New friends are found on an exciting new planet.

Jim hasn't changed a bit, Leonard thinks as he watches the man converse with his alien contact in this crumbling space station _Andramenda_ , which is probably older than life itself. Jim’s always had a way with people, human and alien alike. Maybe that’s what drew Leonard to him in the first place. Maybe it was because, despite throwing his life as a doctor away to become a mercenary, Jim exuded more adventure, more promises of excitement that got under his skin. No matter how much he tells himself how much he hated their expedition from a lifetime ago, he’s never been that good at lying to himself.

He sighs at the thought, shifting against the metal wall with paint peeling off it before he comes up to Jim with an air of impatience.  
"It's better if we leave sooner than later. We don’t want them get a whiff of us all the way out here."

To his credit, Jim doesn't roll his eyes. But he does apologise for the interruption before turning his head to look at his companion, cocking an eyebrow.  
"I know. I'm securing our transport onto the planet, then you can guide us like a good dog and I can get my artifact back."

The dark expression on Bones' face is priceless. "Well make it quick. We want the sun at our backs so they can't see us coming."

He folds his arms when Jim finally does look away in exasperation, but after a few words Jim slips off his seat with the contact, who beckons for them both to follow. During the time it's taken for them to journey to this tiny space station, Jim's contact was able to acquire a small ship that should help them fly under the radar.

"Perfect, isn't she?" And there's that grin Leonard remembers, the one he's been getting surprised by during the entire way here. Not that Jim's noticed. "Small enough not to show on radar - hopefully. Has a cloaking device too, just in case that isn't enough."

Small the ship may be, but even with Jim’s money he apparently couldn’t get one that didn’t have the odd panel looking like it might fall off under this artificial gravity. But it’s better than waiting around up here for the Shai’s scouts to get eyes on them, and that’s the important thing. He can’t let that happen just yet.

“It’s a ship, I’ll give you that.” Bones wears a doubtful expression, but he huffs with a smirk soon enough. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

“Not like we haven’t had worse, Bones. Get on in, make yourself at home. Just remember, you can’t fly off without me.”

Jim dangles the ignition key before giving Bones a pat on the arm as encouragement, and opens the small hatch. Of course he tucks the key away, which seems to becoming a trend in Leonard’s life now. Still, without any way to get out of this situation except by helping Jim, he heads on in with barely a grumble.

“I’ve already had the gear we need transferred inside, so you won’t have to worry about clothes, at least.” After a few more minutes of chatter in a language even Bones can barely understand, his companion, or rather his jailer right now, clambers inside with more grace than Leonard thinks is fair.

“You mean you don’t want to see me in my underwear, darlin’? Surprising.” The mercenary smirks, sitting at the helm with the co-pilot’s seat empty beside him. Jim should have known after all this time that Bones is still, well, Bones.

Jim takes the empty chair and admires the old flight console before him before replying, and although amused, there is a hint of wistfulness in his voice. “If, and I do mean _if_ , I wanted to see you at all, it wouldn’t be in your underwear. But I don’t mix business and pleasure, you know that.”

As if Jim can tell himself that and truly believe it. Bones knows Jim is still the same Kirk he dealt with before, they’ve just both gotten a little older, perhaps not as naive. Wishful thinking, maybe. Still, the older man lets out a soft laugh and leans in close enough to get into Jim’s personal space, watching as his eyes dart to Bones’ lips despite himself. “Sugar, if you wanted to take me on a date across the universe, you at least could have picked a nicer ride.” To top it off and to make Jim react by pushing him away with a put-upon sigh, he presses a kiss to Jim’s cheek.

“That a no?” Bones asks with a sly smile, looking rather pleased with himself when he sits back.

“Oh, no. But I don’t advise you keep doing that if you don’t want to fall head first out of an airlock any time soon.” Jim returns with a smirk, but he can’t help the way his gut twists. They may have only been lovers for a relatively short time, but it was a fun time. Except for when they were getting shot at.

Leonard just scoffs. “You know I like a challenge,” and slips out of the seat, and into the back, leaving Jim to set them on their way and to sort out his conflicted feelings.

  
\-----

“I am sending you the map we have now, but Jim… are you even sure the Orb is here anymore?” Chekov’s voice rings tinny through the small earpiece Jim hooks onto his ear once he and Bones have landed on a rocky outcrop. Crashed, Bones had retorted a number of times, but Jim just thinks he’s still sore about getting found with a phaser pistol he snuck out of the cargo.

“It has to be. You haven’t heard any whispers on the black markets, have you? They aren’t ready to sell to Harrison or we’d already be facing a plague.”  
“Or they’re simply biding their time.” Bones comments, backpack over his shoulder and frown. The last place he wanted to return to was this planet, but with his directions he’s managed to get them merely a day or so away from what he remembers as the main hub. If it still is that now. He points to a deep green, tree-covered rise to the east, remembering it from his mercenary days. “We’ll want to reach that by nightfall. There’s an old breach in the valley just past in, we can most likely get in that way.”

That’s the plan, anyway. With a quick goodbye to Chekov and Jim holstering a couple of phasers to his belt, the two set off over the unforgiving terrain. Time passes without much in the way of conversation, neither all that talkative when they have so much ground to cover.

  
The rose-tinted sun is high in the sky when they take the chance to stop and catch their breath. They’ve quietly covered a lot of the journey already, but there’s still a vast swathe of land between them and the cover of the overgrown rise.

“Didn’t think his highness would let me sit down.” Bones jibes as he parks down on a flattened rock under some much-needed shade. He doesn’t need any encouragement to break out a drink and a ration bar. If nothing else, Jim has made sure they’re prepared, what with the expedition clothes and enough food to last them a week between them.

“Ah, and here I thought you’d stopped complaining for the rest of the trip.”

“Should have known better, kid. I’ve just been saving it all up for later.” Jim rolls his eyes but can’t hide his worn out smile, taking his place on a similar rock to replenish himself. He loves adventure, but damn, there are some times he misses having the rest of his team with him. Like Uhura, wherever she may be by now. If she’s even still alive.

“...So. Where do I fit in?”

The air is quiet except for the calls of strange creatures in the undergrowth, lethargic in the midday pink sun. Jim squints up at it after pouring over the map Chekov managed to provide him of the known area, along with Bones’ various addendums.

“What do you mean? You’re the guide.” Jim replies with a quizzical expression, looking at Bones with an odd smile. Surely he can’t think that Kirk simply led him here on a whim.

With a huff of annoyance, Bones gives a shrug and a wave of his hand. “I mean, when you think back on the vast scheme of your hugely adventurous life...where do I fit in? Was I the love of your life, or just a bump on the road? Was I time well spent? Four months? More good than bad? C’mon, darlin’, it had to be more than that, am I right?” By the end he gets strangely quiet, dark eyes almost pensieve. But he watches in surprise when Jim decides to put the holomap away and pick up his backpack, clearly intent on hitting the trail.  
It’s only once Bones joins him that he speaks again, eyes down as he leads them down the side of a small hill.

“You are right. It was five months.”

  
\-----

When Jim takes the time to look around at this planet, it’s actually pretty familiar. Deep blue-green tree-like things covering a lot of the landscape, rocky outcrops dotting it in small pockets. What’s most fortuitous is how the air has plenty of oxygen. Perhaps that’s why the Shai-ban decided to stay here, complete with tunnels and hollows that could hide any number of alien creatures now the mining has stopped for decades.  
It makes Jim wonder why the Federation hasn’t stayed here, except for the construction of the space station.

He was too late to discover the most of the secrets of Earth, but he’d still gone exploring and adventuring as his mother had taught him. Winona Kirk was a force all on her own, but the two of them even while Jim was naught more than a boy, went on expeditions that gave the kid the bug. They’d kept at it up until she died, the land speeder she was in falling off a cliff on Zeta IV while being chased by poachers.  
A surprisingly - and disappointingly - mundane death, Jim thought.

Still thinks.

  
“Up ahead.” Leonard’s voice breaks through the reverie, making Jim shift his eyes from the canopy of leaves and blue needles and take out a holo-magnifier.

They stop and get down lower to make themselves a smaller target after hearing a call a mile or so ahead, causing a small puff of birdlike animals to fly up into the sky, a deepening peach tone with streaks of orange clouds across the sun.

“Look. See that poking up over the trees there? We’re near a lookout post.”

“It’s not doing a very good job, is it? There’s only a few up there.” Jim huffs, crouched down beside Leonard, sliding out a phaser from its holster. “We’ll have to sneak by. Can you step lightly as well as keep your mouth shut for long enough, or will you need some encouragement?” Asking with a playful overtone, Jim's actions of readying his phaser and taking off the safety don't match at all.

Bones cocks an eyebrow at that, glancing at the guy curiously, “Encouragement?”

Jim moves his gaze from Bones’ face to his backside before gesturing as though it’s obvious. “No weapon, remember? Don’t think I’m about to give you one of mine just because we’ve hit a speedbump.”

That was clearly not the sort of encouragement Bones was hoping for. There’s a flicker of disappointment in his gaze when he moves a fraction away, eyes rolling. Of course Jim wouldn’t let him have a phaser even now. Never mind if they actually started getting shot at.

  
“Come on. Follow my lead, and stay silent, yeah?”

Bones gives Jim a trying look as the younger man draws past him, holo-magnifier stowed away. He wears a determined expression, but he pauses ever so briefly with a flick of his eyes towards the mercenary, and quickly leans in to plant a barely-there kiss to his cheek before moving ahead with purpose.

Oh.

Perhaps that’s all the encouragement Leonard needs. Not that he gets a chance to think on it more than that when he has to follow Jim down the side of the rise, through the undergrowth, aiming to move past the spindly lookout post.

\-----

Overgrown with deep blue vines, almost giving the appearance of being reclaimed by this alien nature, the lookout post stands a good way above the treeline, but doesn’t seem to offer much in protection. At least that’s what Jim hopes, using the shade from the surrounding foliage to try and keep him and Bones under the radar. Figuratively. Although from what Jim saw through the holo-magnifier were only a small count manning the site, but they are most likely Romulans.

Romulans with weapons.

Fun.

Jim signals for them to stop just before they’re about to enter a small clearing at the base of the post, barely anything there except an obvious radio device and a firepit that still has a few wisps of smoke rising from it. Perhaps whoever was supposed to on the ground decided their time was better spent elsewhere.

“Stay low and stay put. When I give the signal, follow me.” Jim whispers, glancing back at Leonard’s shadowed figure. “Understood?”

He gets a nod for his troubles, though Bones purses his lips at the thought of being left behind. “I’ll be a sitting duck out here.” Voice kept low, he spares a quick look around, feeling too exposed even in the undergrowth.  
“Stay. I won’t be long.”

Despite the expression on Bones’ face, Jim takes his chances and skirts around the edge of the clearing, keeping his eyes open for any movement. He ends up stopping a little further in to listen as he presses up against a worn, and oddly warm treetrunk, phaser at the ready. That is until he almost jumps out of his skin at the sudden loud crack of a dead branch breaking underfoot, followed by a few hushed curses and static that he can’t quite understand fully.

“-ooks like nose-zzt-dented...close range craft-? Didn’t anybody-zzzt-zzt-radar? -o’s gonna tell-zzt-ro? I can’t lo...nymore fingers-”

Static and high pitched whines fill the air as the radio signal goes in and out of focus, but it’s done the job of attracting someone to listen to it. The Romulan guard doesn’t bother being quiet as he treads his way without much thought of cracking branches and disturbing leaves, all the while muttering under his breath. Jim flattens against the tree as much as possible, only leaning out a little to spy when the guard’s faced away from him and towards the poorly maintained radio instead. The message comes through again, this time more panicked about various limbs being lost amidst the audio snow and the guard trying to reply.

“Did ya see any of them? You sure it ain’t just an old craft? Space junk?”

“-e’re sure. We got visitors. Keep an eye ou…-oll out the red carpet for ‘em.”

Shit. Jim had hoped they’d have more time to maneuver into a better position, give them a day at least to get their proper bearings. He and Bones need to just get around this part and move as quickly and quietly as possible, and climb the last rise.

Gritting his teeth, Jim starts to move slowly away from the tree and shift the grip on his phaser. He can just about see Bones from here, and no doubt the guy knows what to look for to follow Jim’s signal, too. He raises his hand, about to direct the guy, before there’s one last loud crack behind him and the telltale whirr of a phaser powering up, making Jim whip his head around in an instant.

All that greets him is a disapproving cluck of a tongue and a smug expression meeting his gaze. Jim’s new friend tilts his head slightly and readies his little phaser, looking rather pleased with himself when he speaks.

“Well, well. The radio wasn’t lying after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last one for a few days! I'll be away for a short while, and I must balance this with work.  
> Still, I hope this will suffice for the time being!


End file.
